How to Use counterproductive in a Sentence

counterproductive

adjective
  • His uncontrollable anger is very counterproductive to his attempt at saving his marriage.
  • And winning 13-nil, in the grand scheme of things, can be counterproductive to the growth of the sport.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2019
  • The use of a last name could even be counterproductive.
    — Maya Davis, CNN, 3 Aug. 2024
  • Wulfeck said many of the changes would be counterproductive.
    — David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2022
  • The trouble, of course, is that Trump’s plan is not so simple to achieve — and, in fact, may be counterproductive.
    — David Goldman, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025
  • In fact, trying to suck the venom out of a snake bite is counterproductive.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2024
  • The guys that are rehabbing are on their own right now, which to me seems very counterproductive here.
    — Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2022
  • But a campaign to change the language of disease, based on the urge to do something, could be counterproductive.
    — Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 17 Aug. 2022
  • But this may have been counterproductive, at least for the penguin colonies.
    — Joshua Rapp Learn, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2025
  • The point is, stuff is getting out and that's counterproductive.
    — Fox News, 16 May 2018
  • And her presence won’t help, and could be counterproductive, in red states.
    — Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2021
  • But allowing him to learn at this level as the rest of the team tries to get back on track might be counterproductive for all involved.
    — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, 11 May 2018
  • Blackstock said the two-case rule is counterproductive on that front.
    — Eric Umansky, ProPublica, 2 Apr. 2021
  • Some argue that pulling out of Georgia would be counterproductive to the cause and harm workers.
    — Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2021
  • Making changes to the terms of a relationship or to your routines can be counterproductive in the long run.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive.com, 6 June 2019
  • A lot of people may see hair trimming as counterproductive when trying to gain length, but Afro hair needs to be trimmed.
    — Sheilla Mamona, Glamour, 8 Aug. 2022
  • But making racers sit on their hands time and time again in a game that can be as thrilling as Onrush seems counterproductive.
    — Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 5 June 2018
  • And in many ways, the tariffs that that Trump imposed on China were counterproductive.
    — CBS News, 28 July 2021
  • But that came to be seen as tainted by racial bias and counterproductive because drug use is treatable.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 8 Feb. 2022
  • This is counterproductive as these complex products need a great deal of capital to cross the chasm.
    — Susan Akbarpour, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Adding stuff that will eat up even more of that precious resource seems counterproductive.
    — Leia Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 July 2021
  • This is just how the hackers like it and is proving to be a counterproductive decision in hindsight.
    — Edward Segal, Forbes, 31 May 2021
  • Adding a stack of non-premium prospects could be counterproductive as Houston looks to turn the corner into the next phase of its rebuild.
    — Michael Shapiro, Chron, 31 Jan. 2023
  • That would be one way to get your mind off her because sitting around thinking about her is counterproductive.
    — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 18 Aug. 2020
  • Emefiele is known in Nigeria for his dogged defense of the naira, sometimes to counterproductive ends.
    — Alexander Onukwue, Quartz, 30 Sep. 2021
  • That would be counterproductive and won’t contribute to the young person’s growth and learning.
    — Lauryn Higgins, Parents, 16 Jan. 2025
  • And the griping goes on, with some going so far as to speculate that the training program could even be counterproductive.
    — Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, 28 May 2018
  • The result is constant guilt about our choices and that is counterproductive.
    — Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2022
  • With that singular directive, a counterproductive mentality can take hold; that is, everything that cuts costs is good, and anything that adds costs is bad.
    — Seamus Smith, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025
  • This is ridiculous and counterproductive — not to mention a mirror image of the regrettable intimidation tactics that the GOP denounced when used by Democrats.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 20 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'counterproductive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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